Come Back To Me
by HopelessRomantic984
Summary: Fewshot, will be 4 installments. Tommy returns after a two year absence, to find Jude engaged and about to get married the next day! Will he be able to change her mind?
1. Chapter 1

Come Back to Me

Jude couldn't believe it had been two years. Two years since she'd seen Tommy. Two years, to the day, since Tommy had stood in front of her, looking deeply into her eyes, and promised that he would be back for her. But he never came back.

She shook her head, trying to keep her mind on the present. It was late Friday night and she was sitting in the studio listening to her newly mixed track with her new producer, who was also her fiancée. But the track was not what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Tommy, and for some reason she couldn't stop. Two years ago, Tommy had found out the truth about Portia's involvement in Angie's death and it had thrown him into a depression. He was somber and would barely speak to anyone, except Jude. He'd come to her at home late one night to tell her he was leaving. Before she could help it, her mind flashed back to that night.

_He smiled the smile of a broken man. "Jude, I want you, I love you, but I'm not in any shape right now to give you what you need. I need to go, sort myself out." He took her hands in his, caressing the tops of her hands with his thumbs. Then he lifted her downward face towards him so that he could stare into her eyes. "I will be back, I promise. I will come back to you, for you." Then he'd kissed her passionately, ruthlessly, taking one last taste before he walked out the door, leaving her in shock._

"Jude?!"

Jude's head snapped up immediately.

"Jude, you alright?" Gabriel asked her, touching her hand gently, bringing her attention back to him.

She smiled weakly, "I'm fine, thanks. Sorry, I just got a little lost in my thoughts."

"That's okay. You know what," he said, standing, and pulling Jude out of her chair to enclose her in his arms, "we can finish this when we get back from our honeymoon. We shouldn't even be here right now, we still have last minute stuff to do before tomorrow."

Jude pulled back slightly, looked up into his warm, comforting face. "Sadie's got everything covered, believe me. She's an expert planner and organizer." Gabriel pulled her close again, and Jude nestled into his arms, closing her eyes to enjoy the comfortable feeling. These past two years had been extremely rough. Everyday for the first year Jude had kept one eye on the door, expecting Tommy to rush through the door any minute and sweep her up in his arms. But he never showed up. Slowly she opened her heart up again to Gabriel, a generous, caring man who understood her and her music. But Jude always had a gnawing feeling in the back of her mind that the majority of her heart would always be locked away for Tommy, and that no one would understand her quite like Tommy did.

Jude forced her eyes open, releasing herself from Gabriel's embrace to sit down at the soundboard again. "I want to finish the song."

"Jude, we can finish it when we get back," Gabriel said, walking up behind her, beginning to massage her shoulders.

"I want to finish it today, and then we can start on fresh material when we come home," Jude returned, trying not to let him see the relaxing effect his ministrations were having on her. She was becoming so relaxed she thought she was going to fall asleep. She lifted a hand up to cover a yawn, and Gabriel caught her hand.

"I knew it! We're going home. You're tired, and I want you completely rested for tomorrow!! Now, get out of the chair, I'm taking you home. Don't force me to carry you," He said half-jokingly, laughing loudly. He swiveled the chair around and attempted to pick her up, Jude evading him and trying to push the chair away. It turned into a game, both of them laughing hysterically.

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. They both turned quickly to see who it was. No one was usually still around at this time.

"Sorry to interrupt," a familiar voice said, "I'm looking for Jude Harrison."

Jude gasped, covering her mouth with shock. It was Tommy Quincy.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Their eyes locked and she noticed his familiar grin forming, the one he used to give her when he was happy to see her. She also saw him look at Gabriel, then back at her as if trying to figure out what the relationship was.

Jude stood up, feeling like she was in a dream, and walked a bit closer to where Tommy stood, paralyzed in the doorway. "Tommy… you're back," she said simply, not knowing what else she should say.

Jude looked at Gabriel and saw confusion written on his face. She'd never told him about her relationship with Tommy. "Gabriel, this is Tommy, my old producer."

"Old producer?" Tommy asked, "Is that all I was, Jude?" He had a devilish smirk, and she didn't dignify his question with an answer. Instead she moved onto the hardest part of the introduction. "Tommy, this is Gabriel. He's my… fiancée."

Jude had never seen someone's expression change so quickly. One minute Tommy had seemed happy, and the next Jude saw anger, panic, fear and hurt all flash across his face.

"Fiancee?" Tommy asked, his eyes piercing directly into Jude's.

Jude turned to Gabriel, "Can I talk to Tommy alone for a minute?" Gabriel looked hesitant but gave into Jude's pleading look. "Ok, I'll be in the lobby waiting for you," he said, looking warily at Tommy as he walked passed him.

"Jude, what do you think you are doing? Getting married??" he asked when Gabriel had left.

"What am **I** doing?" Jude yelled, her anger rising at Tommy's question. "Not that you have a right to ask me anything, but it's called moving on. You left Tommy. Two years ago, you walked out the door and never looked back."

He walked over to Jude, attempting to grab her hand. She evaded his touch, backing up from him. "It wasn't like that, Jude. Let me explain myself."

"Tommy, I'm not interested! Don't you get it?!? You know what the worst part was? If you didn't want me, or weren't planning on coming back, why didn't you just say so??? For a whole year I waited. People said to me, 'Jude, he's gone,' and they encouraged me to let you go. But I didn't. I told them that I knew you. That I knew you'd keep your word. Turns out I was the one who ended up looking like a fool. Because you never came back." Jude turned, not wanting Tommy to see the tears that she was still shedding for him.

Tommy walked up, stopping when he was only a few inches behind her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body so close behind hers. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "You can't marry him, Jude. You know that."

Jude closed her eyes, savouring the feel of his body next to hers for a few seconds longer before she turned around.

"Whether you like it or not, Tommy, I am going to be getting married to Gabriel." She glanced at her watch. "In fact, I gotta go, I have a few more things to do before-" Jude paused mid-sentence and began to walk by him.

"Before what?" A look of realization and shock filled Tommy's face, and he grabbed her arm before she could leave. "When's the wedding, Jude?" Jude looked up into Tommy's eyes, seeing the fear and panic in them.

She looked down, unable to bear the deep, searching look he was giving her. "Tomorrow," she said, disengaging herself from his grasp. "Have a nice life, Tommy. I know I plan on it," she said as she began to walk out of the studio. Half-way to the door, she paused and turned, looking back at his pain-ridden face. "Goodbye, Tommy," she said softly, and as she walked out Tommy could see her engagement ring sparking wildly as the light hit it. From where he still stood, he watched as Jude grabbed Gabriel's hand and led him out the door. As he watched Gabriel put his arm around Jude's shoulder, he thought to himself, _Over my dead body. Over my dead body is Jude getting married to anyone. Anyone but me, that is._


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3:

At 1:00 am Jude was still awake, sitting at the dining room table in her childhood home looking over last minute seating arrangements and confirming that all the flower and catering orders were correct. She sighed loudly. _Why did he have to come back now? I was fine. I was happy. I had finally started to enjoy life again. Why did he have to ruin it for me?_ She couldn't help wondering, though, if she had actually been that happy without him, would he have been able to ruin anything?

She readjusted her focus back to the papers in front of her. She kept telling herself that she was getting married. Today. And it was going to be great. She was going to be happy. Gabriel was sweet and stable and he loved her. What more did she need?

Sadie and her dad were both asleep upstairs, both offering to stay up with her while she did the last minute checks, but she refused both of them. She had sent Gabriel home after he dropped her off after her confrontation with Tommy. She had needed the time alone to process all that had happened. She had just finished telling herself again, for the millionth time, that she would be happy married to Gabriel when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She rushed to the window, hoping her suspicions weren't correct about who would be coming over this late. She looked out and the window and her hunch was confirmed; she saw the Viper, and Tommy getting out to walk to the front door.

She heard the quiet knock on the door and contemplated pretending she wasn't awake. But knowing Tommy, he'd find a way to climb in the window or something equally drastic. She walked to the door and opened it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked brusquely, purposely not giving him a polite greeting.

"Why, Jude Harrison, I'm here to see you, of course," Tommy said brightly, ignoring her rudeness and walking by her into the living room. She followed, thrown off a little by his curiously happy demeanour.

"It's a little late for a visit, Tommy," Jude said, crossing her arms.

"Well, see, there's something I need to talk to you about before tomorrow," Tommy said, glancing at his watch, "or, I guess it's later today actually. Besides, I knew you would be awake, you never did go to bed before two am."

Jude ignored the comment and asked, "What do you want to talk about Tommy?" Suddenly, Tommy's expression changed to one of determination and he strode purposefully to her and took her hands.

"Remember that time you took me to the church by your old farmhouse to get the sample for your third record?" Jude nodded in reply, too wrapped up in the contact of their skin to verbalize anything. "That day I told you that many times I had thought about asking you to leave with me. Well, I'm asking now."

Jude's opened her mouth to speak, but was too shocked. "What?" she asked, saying the only word she could spit out.

He narrowed his gaze and stepped even closer to her so that their foreheads were almost touching. "Leave with me, Jude. I'm finally asking what I should have asked you two years ago. When I left to sort myself out, the biggest mistake I made was not asking you to come with me. See, what I didn't realize is that without you, I'm not me. I'm a mess; I've always been a mess. And that's why I stayed away for so long. I finally saw the chaos that surrounds me and it scared me. It scared me even more that I might pull you into that chaos and something might happen to you like it did to Angie. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. So, I decided to stay gone, hoping that you would move on, just like you've done."

Jude looked up into his focused gaze, surprised to hear him say that. He continued, "But, see, one day I woke up and realized how stupid I had been. I had lived without you for two years and where had it gotten me? I was no better. I'm still a walking time-bomb who could very well hurt you. I don't want to, believe me, it's the last thing I want. I love you Jude, and I can't live without you anymore. I just hope I'm not too late," he said, his voice growing soft with emotion.

"Tommy…" Jude started, pulling her hands out of his and backing up. "I'm getting married. TODAY," she said, trying to be strong and remember Gabriel. But, for the first time since she met him, she couldn't conjure an image of him in her mind. Tommy was the only one who existed there now.

Tommy's face fell, "Look, Jude, you can marry him. And I can't really stop you. I can try, I can come to the wedding and object and cause a scene. And you'd hate me for it. But I'm not going to do that. But I am going to give you a choice, and I want you to think hard about it. If you want him, if you've really moved on, then I offer my congratulations and wish you luck. And this will be goodbye, for good. But if it's me you decide you want, I'll be waiting at that church you took me to two years ago, the one where we decided for the first time to make a go of our relationship. If you want to try again, I'll be there until 2:30, and if you don't come, then I'm leaving town for good. Because I can't watch you with him, Jude. It will kill me, physically and emotionally," he said, his voice growing hoarse with sadness. He smiled weakly at her, kissed her gently on the cheek and walked out the door, without looking back.

Jude wiped away the few tears that had escaped her eyes while he spoke. She watched his Viper pull out of the driveway and speed off. She sat down on the couch, laying her head against the soft backing, her eyes wide open. She had a lot to think about.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4:

She was going to marry Gabriel.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon and she was pacing the length of her room. She had already gathered everything she needed into her car. She'd asked her dad and Sadie to go ahead to the church to make sure everything was ready for the four o'clock wedding. She would be heading over to the church soon but she needed some time to calm her nerves first.

To say she was unsettled was an understatement. She kept telling herself that she was making the right choice. Tommy was a part of her past and it was time to let him go, regardless of how she felt about him. Or the fact that she still felt her knees grow weak when he came within five feet of her. She kept trying to tell herself that it didn't matter, that Tommy didn't matter, but she knew that was ridiculous. Tommy was the only person who had ever really mattered. And she was letting him go for good.

She began to feel the panic rise within her.

The words Tommy had said to her last night kept running through her mind, haunting her. No matter how hard she tried to focus on something else, or think of the contented life she would have with Gabriel, feelings of panic and sadness would rise to the surface.

She was settling. She couldn't deny it anymore. With Gabriel, she would be content but not truly happy. The only person who could make her truly happy was leaving town forever in half an hour.

She looked at herself in the mirror. "You can do this, Jude. You know what you have to do," she said to her reflection. "Just go to the church."

With one more look in the mirror, she smiled, grabbed her keys and soared out the door.

Tommy paced nervously outside the church. He glanced at his watch; it was 2:20. She wasn't coming. He couldn't believe that she really wasn't coming.

He pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. He knew it was a disgusting habit, one he really should have broken by now. But, at this moment, his nerves were too shattered to worry about it. He looked around one more time, and then went in the church to gather his stuff.

As Jude pulled up to the church, she prayed she wasn't too late. She looked at the clock; it was 2:31. "God, tell me I'm not too late." She parked, and jumped out of her car. She didn't see his car anywhere.

She ran inside the church and didn't see anyone. "No," she said to herself angrily, "this can't be happening." Tears she wasn't even aware she was crying ran down her cheeks.

She noticed the back entrance was open and she rushed through it, stopping when she saw the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Tommy.

He was standing by a tree, facing the opposite direction to the church and Jude. He clearly hadn't noticed her or heard her yet.

She began to run, and then slowed her pace as she neared him, finally noticing the cigarette in his mouth.

A foot away from him still, she said as loudly as she could manage, "Don't you know that will kill you?"

She could see Tommy's body tense, and he turned quickly.

"Not if you don't kill me first, Harrison," he said, dropping the cigarette and putting it out with his foot. He smiled widely and they simultaneously rushed to each other, crashing their bodies together in a firm, warm embrace.

"I didn't think you were coming. I thought I'd lost you, that you really weren't coming back to me," Tommy whispered in her ear, the emotion evident in his voice.

Jude nestled her body as closely as she could into his, relishing the feel of his closeness, "And I thought I was too late. I thought you were already gone." Fresh tears joined the ones she had previously shed on her cheeks.

Tommy pulled back slightly and he moved his hands to her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry Jude, for every way I've ever hurt you. I can't promise you I won't hurt you again because that would just be unrealistic and I don't want to lie to you. I can promise that I'll always love you. And I'll do everything I can to make you happy." They were both crying now, and he leaned down and kissed her gently.

"I love you Jude Harrison," he whispered.

"I love you, Tommy Quincy," she replied, staring into his beautiful blue eyes, eyes that were full of love only for her.


End file.
